Azima
Azima is a gas giant moon located in the Gasruk Arm of the Andromeda Galaxy. A world with vast ammonia oceans home to an exotic, aquatic environment, Azima orbits the gas giant Kuroga, found orbiting the red dwarf star Pagaro C found in the trinary system Pagaro. Although Azima's actual age remains unknown due to its original status as a rogue planet, it is estimated to be at least 5.5 billion years old. The moon's high atmospheric pressure keeps the planet at a roughly constant temperature, and it allows stable liquid ammonia oceans to form at an unusually high 40° F. Orbit Azima is tidally locked to its parent gas giant. It experiences six days of sunlight and six days of night on different parts of the moon. Due to the distance, the moon receives little sunlight, though it is kept warm with tidal heating. Atmosphere Azima has a remarkably high atmospheric pressure for a terrestrial moon. Its mass is similar to that of super-Earth planets, trapping large amounts of gases. However, because Pagaro is far more massive, much of Azima's early atmosphere was ripped away due to gravitational pulls, while greenhouse gases trap what is left. Thus, it is believed that in the ancient past, Azima was a gas dwarf that was binary to Kuroga. This is explains the unusually large concentration of hydrogen in the atmosphere. With a predominant atmosphere of hydrogen, xenon and neon, the sky appears magenta. The lower altitudes closer to sea level are generally safe from the firestorms that occur in the upper atmosphere, as hydrogen is diluted by the other heavier non-flammable gases. Thermal winds and updrafts are created from temperature differences between the day and the night sides. This causes regular thunderstorms and hurricanes. Geography Azima is covered in 85% oceans after recent geological events sunk many of the continents. Tall mountain ranges and volcanoes peak out from the ocean's surface with shallow seas in between. Deeper oceans fall near the tectonic plates. There are no ice caps on the moon. Due to the sky coloring, the ammonia oceans appear a dark purple. Sky Jungles Sky Jungles are floating, interconnected plants which do not touch the ground. They cover roughly 30% of the sky and can be seen from space. Instead of drawing nutrients from the soil, plants up here are black in color, absorbing as much sunlight as possible. The combined methods the plants gather nutrients makes Sky Jungles independent from the surface world. The penalty for being so high in the atmosphere is that hydrogen is in far greater concentration than it is on the surface. In the event of a thunderstorm, Sky Jungles will catch fire and become highly volatile. While some plants here evolved to be nonflammable, the majority of plants disperse their seeds taking advantage of the explosive reactions. As a result, Sky Jungles are constantly changing and shifting around. Shallow Seas The Shallow Seas were once great plains that have since sunk under-ammonia due to continental drift and tectonic activity. The ocean floor here is rich and fertile, saturated with nutrients from dead matter. It is here where most Ushuru make their homes. The Shallow Seas contain exotic ecosystems of bioluminescent coral reefs and towering kelp forests which use bladders filled with hydrogen to keep afloat. Much of Azima's hydrogen comes from these forests. The coastlines of the Shallow Seas tend to be highly tropical with enormous foliage and a great degree of carnivorous plants. Badlands The Badlands are the dry regions surrounding the tall mountains and volcanoes. Lightning strikes cause explosive reactions in the atmosphere making the Badlands an unforgiving, volatile environment. However, the reactions fuel the metabolisms of bacteria which small arthropods feed upon. While relying primarily on storm clouds, this ecosystem is largely independent from the rest of Azima's biosphere. The Badlands tend to have a geography of crystal, glass formations due to lightning strikes. Ecosystem Life native to this world cannot survive in lower pressure environments or else their skin will split open. Water as well as nitrogen-oxygen air mixtures are poisonous to life on this planet. Plants in Azima vary from dark violet to black to absorb as much light for photosynthesis as possible. A small percentage if the atmosphere is composed of methane which these plants metabolize to generate hydrogen, which they release into the atmosphere. Animals on Azima breathe hydrogen and exhale methane. Plants that exclusively metabolize methane tend to be small, lichenous growths. Carnivorous plants dominant the land, utilizing hydrogen to grow to enormous size, and using methane to carry out photosynthesis. The large amounts of hydrogen allow true animals to grow to enormous sizes. The sky is dominated by large whale-like creatures which feed on floating algae. Animals are are highly bioluminescent, capable of communicating with one another via complex light patterns. Generally, most land and air animals exhibit balloon-like structures allowing them to navigate swiftly, taking advantage of the low gravity and high atmospheric pressure. List of flora *Sky Vine - Sky Vines are large plants which remain aloft with balloons. Interestingly enough, they do not connect to the ground like most plants. Multiple hearts pump metabolized sugars synthesized from sunlight. They frequently intermingle and mix together to form large Sky Jungles. *Raindish plant - Raindish plants capture ammonia raining down from the sky. Some animals also make their homes within them. *Grand Mold - A large plant consisting of stalks. Their stalks support large, spherical capsules which contain spores which explode open to release spores. Grand Molds spread to cover large areas, growing most predominantly in rich soil. *Toxic spout - A plant that defends itself by spitting concentrated toxins. *Snakehead - Snakeheads are unusual creatures. While they attach themselves to the ground with roots and perform photosynthesis, their stems are capable of movement and bending. As the name suggests, its flower upon maturity becomes a set of jaws luring animals in with a sweet scent. List of fauna *Wader - A giant omnivorous creature that dwells the shallow seas. Its upper body remains afloat with a large, transparent inflatable sac. It walks across the ocean floor using a series of anchors. *Tetherwalker - Similar to the wader, though it treads the land. Remaining aloft with a large, balloon-like body, it walks using tethers. *Airship Whale - A whale-like creature with a large sac making it appear as a floating blimp. It controls its direction via methane expulsion. These creatures will often graze on Sky Vines. *Pin Flier - A large, flying arthropod about two meters in length that lives within hardened stalks within the Sky Jungles. They prey on Airship Whales by swarming them. *Jitu - One of the largest creatures on Azima, the Jitu is a buoy shaped creature that stands 60 meters high. It uses hydrogen filled sacs at its base to keep it afloat on the ammonia, while a single long neck reaches upwards to feed off of Sky Jungles. *Ushuru - While Ushuru cannot breathe underwater, they can hold their breathe for long periods of time - surfacing on a regular basis. They are the sapient species of Azima. Geological history Azima was once an ammonia cloud gas dwarf that begun to migrate inwards after falling into Pagaro C's orbit. After being captured as a moon by Pagaro, gravitational influxes begun to rip away Azima's primitive loose atmosphere, once made of hydrogen and helium. As levels of these gases decreased, tidal heating stirred geological activity setting off volcanoes and moving tectonic plates. The release of sulfur and other greenhouse gases from these volcanoes begun to form a newer, more stable atmosphere. After several billion years, temperatures on the moon begun to stabilize as the ammonia clouds begun to precipitate, eventually forming oceans. Azima's microbes rapidly adapted to the new environment, and soon enough, new ecosystems were formed. So far, multicellular life on Azima has existed for 1.5 billion years, and remains at the apex of diversity today. Category:Articles by User:Krayfish Category:Moons Category:Ammonia worlds